Sometimes uses the alias Harris and was said to be involved in human trafficking. Doesn't look like an Arab in the mugshot that goes with the article. Looks like a street yo, complete with tattoos running up his neck.

[BBC.CO.UK] The Afghan president has ordered US special forces to leave Wardak province within two weeks over allegations of disappearances and torture.
The measures were being taken due to the actions of Afghans considered to be part of US special forces, said a front man for Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai.... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...The strategically significant, central province of Wardak has been the recent focus of counter-insurgency operations.

A US front man said it took all allegations of misconduct seriously.

But he said he could not comment specifically on this latest development.

In a hastily convened news conference, the presidential front man said US special forces would have to leave Wardak within the next two weeks.

"There are some individuals, some Afghans, who are working within these cells, within these [US] special forces groups" in Wardak province, said front man Aimal Faizi.

"But they are part of US special forces according to our sources and according to our local officials working in the province," he said.

These Afghan units are facing allegations of involvement torture and disappearances, says the BBC's Karen Allen in Kabul. A preliminary investigation also blamed them for beheading a university student in the province.

Wardak is seen as a gateway for the Taliban to target Kabul, our correspondent adds.

#6
One of the positives of an early withdrawal is that it advances the day we see Karzai upside down on a Kabul lamp post
And doesn't Karzi know it, so expect him to do a runner out of Afghanistan before the 20014 elections when everything will go tits-up.

#10
He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. When the count was in, he won(?) by something like 54%. However, the fix was in and the ballot boxes were stuffed. Chicago would be proud of Karzai.

#11
...see, he learned. However, his departure should also be a lesson to our own governing class, that stuffed ballot boxes aren't willing to give that 'last full measure of devotion' to keep you in power.

Afghan and coalition troops captured six insurgents during a raid two days ago that targeted a leader from the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). The security forces launched the raid in northern Afghanistan in Kunduz district, Kunduz province. This is the seventh operation targeting the group so far this year, based on ISAF press release compiled by The Long War Journal.

ISAF did not release many details regarding the operation or the target but did indicate that the targeted leader "is allegedly instrumental in manufacturing, procuring and distributing improvised explosive devices for use in attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in the province." ISAF did reveal to The Long War Journal that the fighters arrested were Afghan and affiliated with the IMU.

However, ISAF said that "there are no indications of foreign involvement" which contradicts their affiliation with the IMU, who's leadership is based in Pakistan's tribal agency of North Waziristan. When questioned by The Long War Journal on IMU's foreign ties, specifically with its leadership in Pakistan, a spokesman for US Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A) responded as follows:

Speaking from my USFOR-A perspective, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the US Department of State in 2000. This FTO designation plays a critical role in our fight against terrorism and helps us curtail support for terrorist activities.

This is a great indication that ISAF believes Afghanistan remains a central front in combating foreign terrorist networks, however lacks clarity of how al Qaeda and its affiliates, such as the IMU, are operating in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

ISAF has indicated numerous times in the past, in its own press releases, that the IMU's leadership cadre is based in Pakistan, and the Afghan IMU network takes direction from those Pakistan-based leaders. For instance, when IMU's top leader for Afghanistan was captured in 2011, ISAF said he was "a key conduit between the senior IMU leadership in Pakistan and senior Taliban leadership in Afghanistan."

"He assisted both groups by directing insurgent movement for training and operations between the two countries, coordinating suicide, explosive device, and mortar attacks against Afghan and coalition forces throughout northern Afghanistan," ISAF stated in the press release announcing his capture.

Based on The Long War Journal's study of the IMU, the group continues to exercise control of the network in Afghanistan. Abu Usman Udil, the previous leader of the IMU who was killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan in April 2012, was instrumental in ramping up the IMU's operations in Pakistan. His successor, Usman Ghazi, is said to be equally committed to the fight in Afghanistan.

It may be the case that the six IMU fighters captured two days ago were Afghan, but it is highly unlikely that the network they are involved with is not receiving support and guidance from across the border in Pakistan.

At least half the Afghan Taliban recently freed from Pakistani prisons have rejoined the insurgency, a Pakistani intelligence official says, throwing into question the value of such goodwill gestures that the Afghan government requested to restart a flagging peace process.

The other half just haven't yet been identified as being in the field...

The development underscores the difficulties in reaching a political deal with the Taliban before the end of 2014, when NATO and US troops are scheduled to have completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan. Many Taliban released from the US prison at Guantanamo Bay have also gone underground.

Despite some recent signs from the Taliban that they are willing to share power and want to avoid a civil war, the militants may well be playing for time until 2014. That's also when the Afghans are scheduled to elect a new president to succeed Hamid Karzai, whom the insurgents consider an American puppet.

The fighting erupted when a clan leader died at a cop shoppe, prompting pitched battles between Marehan and Ogadeni clansmen, two of the three groups that have traditionally fought for control of Kismayo.

"It's the worst fighting since the Shabaab left the city, and even if the situation is calm now, the two sides continue to regroup," Ga'al added by telephone from capital Mogadishu.

Another witness, Ali Moalim SLearned Elders of Islamn, said three of the people killed were civilians caught in the exchange of fire, adding that six other civilians were maimed and taken to hospital.

In a statement Saturday, Somali Prime Minister Abdi Said Shirdon called on the two clans to lay down their arms.

"We are shocked to learn that two fraternal clans are fighting and spilling innocent blood, while residents await the establishment of a regional government."

Several clans have fought for control of Kismayo since September, when a Kenyan army contingent drove the Shabaab -- an Islamist bully boy group with ties to al-Qaeda -- out of its main stronghold.

Witnesses said the Kenyan soldiers still stationed in Kismayo did not intervene to end the festivities.

Prior fighting between the militias had resulted in several deaths in December in Kismayo, which as Somalia's second largest port is vital to the country's economy.

The Kenyan troops, from the African Union...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), drove out the Shabaab with backing from Somali forces, including the Ras Kamboni militia.

The militia, mainly made up of Ogaden clan members, is commanded by warlord Ahmed Madobe, who switched from supporting the Shabaab to fighting alongside the African Union

Other clan militias have since been deployed in Kismayo, with clan rivalries posing one of the greatest threats to a return to peace in Somalia since AMISOM significantly weakened the Shabaab.

KHARTOUM: An Arab militia firing heavy machine guns killed more than 50 people in Sudans Darfur region on Saturday, residents said, continuing unrest that has caused the largest displacement of people in years.

They came on Land Cruisers, used Dushkas and they burned 30 houses killing 53 people, said one resident of El Sireaf town, to which most of the 100,000 people displaced or severely affected by the earlier tribal fighting had fled. Another resident, who said he was wounded, also gave a figure of 53 dead.

The two said the attackers belonged to a militia of the Rezeigat tribe, which has been fighting rival Arabs from the Beni Hussein group since early January in the Jebel Amir gold mining area of North Darfur state.

We are in the cemetery burying these people, the first resident said, adding that the dead included two women and two children. The second said he had been wounded in the leg and when he went to the towns hospital he found it filled with others who had been hurt in the attack.

[Ynet] The Chadian army says that its troops killed 65 Islamic bully boy rebels and destroyed five vehicles in fierce fighting northern Mali.

The Chadian military said in a statement Saturday on state broadcasting that 13 Chadian soldiers were also killed and six were maimed in the fighting Friday in northern Mali. The statement said the festivities were in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains of northeastern Mali.

WASHINGTON: The United States has deployed several Predator drones to Niger to fly surveillance missions in support of French forces in Mali, a US defence official said Friday.

The unarmed robotic aircraft are flying out of Niamey at a base with a 100-strong contingent of Air Force personnel, the defence official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"Consistent with our partners in the region, this decision allows for ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) operations within the region," the defence official said.

President Barack Obama announced earlier on Friday that the US troops were sent to the West African country to provide "support for intelligence collection and will also facilitate intelligence sharing with French forces conducting operations in Mali, and with other partners in the region."

Officials insisted the drones sent to Niger would not be equipped with missiles and instead would be used purely for spying on militants in Mali.

[MOBILE.REUTERS] Four Somali immigrants, including a popular imam at a San Diego-area mosque, were convicted by a U.S. federal jury on Friday of conspiring to provide material support to an al Qaeda-linked Islamist militia in the Horn of Africa nation.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, said that the men - the imam, two cab drivers and an employee at a money transmitting business - had conspired to raise and send money to Somali al-Shabaab... the personification of Somali state failure... rebels.

Al-Shabaab beturbanned goons want to impose a strict version of Islamic law in war-ravaged Somalia, but have lost significant territory in the southern and central parts of the country in the face of an offensive by African Union...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... troops.

According to the evidence presented at trial, the men conspired to transfer funds from San Diego to Somalia through the Shidaal Express, a now-defunct money transmitting business in San Diego.

The U.S. Attorney's office said the jury had listened to intercepted phone conversations between one of the men, San Diego cab driver Basaaly Saeed Moalin, and an al-Shabaab leader who was later killed in a U.S. Arclight airstrike.

Aden Hashi Ayro implored the cab driver in those calls to send money to al-Shabaab, telling him it was "time to finance the Jihad."

"You are running late with the stuff. Send some and something will happen," Ayro told Moalin. He also repeatedly asked him to reach out to Mohamed Mohamed Mohamud - a holy man at the City Heights mosque - to obtain funds for the group.

U.S. warplanes killed Ayro, the Afghan-trained then-leader of al-Shabaab who was said to be al Qaeda's top man in the country, in 2008. Under Ayro, al-Shabaab had adopted Iraq-style tactics, including liquidations, roadside kabooms and suicide kabooms.

Prosecutors also presented a recorded telephone conversation in which Moalin gave the rebels permission to use his house in the capital Mogadishu. Prosecutors argued he was offering the home as a place to hide weapons.

[Dawn] At least seven persons were maimed Saturday when gunnies opened fire on a rally of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ)The false nose and mustache of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain...
here at Liaquat Baazar, downtown area of the picturesque provincial capital, police said.

Deputy Inspector General Police Operations Fayyaz Sumbal said unknown motorcyclists shot up a crowd in the bazaar, injuring seven people, including a child.

Sumbal said the injured were rushed to hospitals for medical treatment. He added that the assailants had managed to escape from the site of the incident.

Soon after the shooting, leaders and workers of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) reached Civil Hospital Quetta and staged a sit-in to protest against the incident.

Reacting to the incident ASWJ activists also blocked Jinnah Road.

The ASWJ has announced it will take out further demonstrations on Sunday blocking all major national highways linking Quetta to Bloody Karachi...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...Bloody Karachi, Jacobabad, Taftan and Afghanistan.

[Dawn] A policeman was killed in a hand grenade attack on a police mobile in northwestern Pakistain's Nowshera town, DawnNews reported on Saturday.

The incident occurred on the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.-Islamabad motorway near Rashkai.

According to district police officer (DPO) Mohammad Hussain, one policeman was killed and three others injured in the grenade attack. He added that the attackers also opened fire on the mobile after throwing the grenade at it.

Furthermore, DPO Hussain said two snuffies were killed in a counterattack by the police.

Sources say that a search operation was underway in the area to search it for more thugs.

In a separate incident in Peshawar, unknown assailants murdered a community police officer in an area falling within the limits of the Khazana cop shoppe.

[Dawn] Seven men, including two holy mans said to be associated with the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat and an equal number of coppers, were bumped off in the city on Friday, police said.

They said that Maulana Dilfaraz Mauavia, 45, and his associate Haji Usman were targeted by two men riding a cycle of violence near the Denim Chowrangi within the remit of the SITE-A cop shoppe.

The two men suffered multiple gunshot wounds and were rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where Maulana Mauavia was pronounced dead on arrival while Haji Usman died during treatment, said SITE SP Ali Asif.

He said that the ASWJ claimed that Maulana Mauvia was associated with the party, while the second victim was said to be a former student of Jamia Binoria.

An ASWJ front man said that Maulana Mauvia was a leader of the party's Baldia Town chapter and he along with his associate Haji Usman was heading home after offering Friday prayers.

Late Friday night, two ASWJ activists were targeted in the Gulbahar area, the police said.

The officials said that Naveed Ahmed and Muhammad Sohail were sitting near a shop in Phoolwali Gali where they were fired at in a drive-by shooting. The maimed were rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where Naveed died during treatment. The killings took place at a time when ASWJ workers were staging protest demonstrations in different parts of the city over assassinations of its activists and supporters.

Two coppersbumped off

Meanwhile,...back at the shouting match, the spittle had reached unprecedented levels... two coppers were rubbed out in different areas of the city, officials said.

They added that police constable Akhtar Ali was bumped off in the Metroville area of Site.

The police said that the police constable was heading home from work on a motorbike when he was targeted by gunnies riding a cycle of violence.

The victim was posted in the Site-B cop shoppe.

The police shifted the body to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.

A young police official was rubbed out in Manghopir on Friday night, officials said.

They added said that police constable Nadeem Baloch, 28, was riding a bike when he was targeted within the remit of the Manghopir bazaar cop shoppe.

The police said that the victim was not in uniform.

They shifted the body to the Civil Hospital Bloody Karachi...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...'>Bloody Karachi for medico-legal formalities.

Killing in North Bloody Karachi

A young man was bumped off in what the police described as a targeted attack in North Bloody Karachi on Friday.

The police said that gunnies riding a cycle of violence fired at Maqsood Ali, 32, who was returning home after offering Friday prayers in Sector 5-C-2 within the jurisdiction of the Khawaja Ajmer Nagri cop shoppe.

He was rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where he was pronounced dead.He's dead, Jim!on arrival, they said.

North Bloody Karachi SP Syed Salman Hussain said that the victim was not active in any political or religious party. However,some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... the victim's elder brother, Hafiz Ahmed Ali, was an office-bearer of the Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability... in Bloody Karachi.

Man rubbed out

A young man was rubbed out in the New Bloody Karachi Industrial Area on Friday evening, police said.

They said that Mohammad Kashif and his friend Faisal were having tea outside an auto-workshop when gunnies riding a cycle of violence pulled up there, pumped two bullets in Kashif's head and rode away, said North Bloody Karachi SP Hussain.

It was not immediately clear whether the victim had affiliation with any political or religious party, the police said.

The body was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.

Killing in Korangi

A middle-aged man was killed in Korangi on Friday, police said.

They said that gunnies riding a motorbike opened fire on a jeep near Singer Chowrangi within the remit of the Awami Colony cop shoppe and rode away. The bullets hit Abdul Sattar, 40, who was rushed to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where he was pronounced dead.He's dead, Jim!on arrival.

The police were not sure about the motive for the killing.

They said that the victim was previously affiliated with the proscribed Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain...a Sunni Deobandi organization, a formerly registered Pak political party, established in the early 1980s in Jhang by Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi. Its stated goal is to oppose Shia influence in Pakistain. They're not too big on Brelvis, either. Or Christians. Or anybody else who's not them. The organization was banned in 2002 as a terrorist organization, but somehow it keeps ticking along, piling up the corpse counts...However,a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... the ASWJ, believed to be the reincarnation of the banned SSP, did not own the victim as their worker or supporter.

Minor girl found 'raped', murdered

The body of a six-year-old girl was found at a desolate place in Gulshan-e-Iqbal on Friday.

Police said that the girl had gone missing on Thursday noon in Sikandar Goth and her father, a tailor by profession, lodged a report regarding her disappearance with the Sachal cop shoppe after he failed to find her.

He informed the police that his daughter was playing outside the home but did not return.
On Friday evening, the body was found in a deserted lane within the remit of the Mobina Town cop shoppe. The body was shifted to the JPMC for a post-mortem examination.

Although, the findings of the post-mortem examination were not immediately known, the police suspected that the little girl had been subjected to a sexual assault before being murdered. There were marks of strangulation around the neck, the police said.

The Punjab government should take action against the criminals of the banned outfit, he told reporters at a ceremony at Police Lines.

Hunt down terrorists? What a great idea! Mr. Minister, sir, how do you do it?

The interior minister said Pakistan will soon request the Interpol for repatriation of Tehrik-e-Taliban commander Maulvi Faqir from Afghanistan. Maulvi Faqir was arrested by the Afghan forces from border area a few days ago.

I'm sure Karzi will just hand him right back to you. You can then stash Maulvi in the Abbottabad Hilton until it's safe for him to go back to the Frontier...

Malik said that Maulvi Faqir was involved in a series of terror attacks in the country. We want his deportation to Pakistan so that action can be initiated against him in accordance with the law, he added.

Replying to a question about Talibans dialogue offer, Malik said first they (Taliban) should demonstrate seriousness for talks by surrendering their arms.

His staff continued to laugh at the minister's joke long after the press conference was over...

BAQUBA: The governor of Iraq's restive Diyala province was wounded in a suicide car bombing on Saturday, while a provincial elections candidate was killed in another attack, police and a doctors said.

The suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at Governor Omar al-Humairi's house in Baquba, the capital of Diyala province, wounding him, killing two of his guards and injuring six more, a police lieutenant colonel and a doctor said.

Humairi, a member of the Iraqi Islamic Party, became governor of Diyala, a province that suffers frequent attacks by militants, in September.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but Sunni militants linked to the Al-Qaeda franchise in Iraq often target the security forces and government officials, and suicide bombings are a hallmark of the group.

Also on Saturday, Sheikh Hassan Hadi al-Janabi, a provincial elections candidate in Babil province, was killed south of Baghdad by a magnetic "sticky bomb" along with two of his relatives, a police captain and a doctor said.

A total of nine people were killed Saturday during clashes and in a blast in northern Iraq, where an alleged senior member of al-Qaeda was arrested, police said, reported dpa.

Five gunmen were killed during an exchange with police forces in Mosul city, which is located 400 kilometres north of Baghdad. The clashes erupted after gunmen began attacking the security checkpoint with grenades.

In western Mosul, two policemen were shot dead by an armed group while a roadside bomb killed two soldiers.

The incidents took place as troops arrested an alleged senior member of al-Qaeda in Mosul, home to one of the most diverse mix of ethnic and religious groups in the country.

A Palestinian prisoner died on Saturday in an Israeli jail, a prison spokeswoman said, with a Palestinian official charging he was killed during questioning and demanding an international probe.

Arafat Jaradat... was arrested a few days ago. He was killed during the investigation, the Palestinian minister in charge of prisoner affairs Issa Qaraqaa told AFP. We demand the creation of an international commission of inquiry to probe the circumstances of his death."

Israel Prisons Service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman said Jaradat, a 30-year-old from the West Bank city of Hebron, died suddenly on Saturday at the Meggido detention centre in northern Israel.

I can confirm that a Palestinian prisoner died today in the Meggido prison. It was probably acute cirrhosis a cardiac arrest. I dont have additional details at the moment, Weizman said.

Ah-ha! Acute cirrhosis! Just as I suspected!

News of his death comes a day after nearly 100 Palestinians were wounded in clashes with Israeli security forces during demonstrations in the West Bank to demand the release of the four hunger-strikers.

[Ynet] Battles between Assad's forces, rebels continue to claim victims from both sides with civilians caught in the crossfire; dozens killed on Saturday

The ongoing Syrian civil war saw dozens of Syrians killed on Saturday with no sign of the violence dying down after more than two years of fighting.

Al Arabiya TV reported that 79 people were killed across Syria Saturday and some 90 other bodies were taken from underneath the rubble in Aleppo following army Arclight airstrikes.

Meanwhile,...back at the bunker, his Excellency called a hurried meeting of his closest advisors. It was to be his last. They discussed the officers's efficiency rating system... locals active on social networks quoted Al Arabiya as saying that rebel forces were laying siege to the 155th brigade in the outskirts of Damascus...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat... where the army is launching Scud missiles at the north.

On Friday, rebels reported that the Syrian army had bombed two districts in the city of Aleppo. According to the reports, the army targeted civilian homes burying entire families under the rubble.

Video footage showed buildings on fire and victims being rushed to hospitals in cars. A British human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... activist said that 30 houses had been destroyed in the shelling.

According to another report, rebels broke into the Baath Party headquarters in the city of Khan Aranbe in the Golan Heights, several miles from the Syria-Israel border.

Sources said the rebels killed locals, seized weapons, set the building on fire and captured a ruling party member.

[An Nahar] A man was killed on Saturday in the northern village of Wadi Khaled by gunshots fired from Syria's side of the border, as Syrian shells have landed in al-Dbabiyeh and al-Noura towns of the northern city of Akkar, the National News Agency reported.

The NNA said that a state of rage and anger was felt in the north after Hussein Ismael's death.

It revealed: "An armed presence was also detected in the region".

Ismael's body has reportedly been transferred to al-Salam Hospital in the town of Qobayat, according to the NNA.

Meanwhile,...back at the desert island, Bert was realizing to his horror that he'd had only one bottle for one message, and he'd forgotten to include a return address... the agency also said that shells coming from the Syrian side of the border fell in al-Dbabiyeh and al-Noura towns of Akkar.

Since the eruption of Syria's festivities in 2011, Leb's northern cities have been witnessing several security incidents, the latest of which was in October 2012, when heavy Syrian gunfire targeted the border town of al-Abboudiyeh, forcing residents to flee the area en masse.

A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.